russia circumvents sanctions by receiving thousands of sniper rifles from the United States and the European Union

Having stopped direct supplies to russia, companies from the EU, the US and Turkey have increased their supplies to Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

"When the EU countries imposed an arms embargo on russia after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, there were two huge loopholes in the restrictions. First, the EU Council Resolution No. 833/2014 of July 31, 2014, which banned arms exports to russia, allowed new deliveries under contracts concluded before August 1, 2014. Secondly, the document did not provide for any control measures regarding exports to the Customs Union countries - Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, which share a common customs space with russia and the CSTO military-political bloc,” the publication says.

As a result, there has been a huge increase in supplies to russia's neighbors from the EU, Turkey, and the US. According to UN Comtrade data, these countries receive tens of thousands of weapons annually.

There are statistical anomalies. Exports to Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan have increased by two and a half times in three years: from 19,556 guns in 2020 to 53,211 in 2023. In particular, the export of rifles and shotguns from Italy to Armenia increased from 68 barrels in 2019 to 1,862 last year.

“Kyrgyzstan did not buy weapons from Italy at all in 2020 and 2021, but imported 882 units in 2022 and 4434 in 2023. In 2021, Georgia imported 431 guns from the United States, and in 2022 it increased imports almost tenfold to 4,140 guns. The largest channel of supply to russia's neighbors remains exports from Turkey to Georgia, which increased from 8,426 barrels in 2019 to 18,843 in 2023,” the publication says.

According to the investigation, this is due to the fact that russian rifles are several times inferior to western rifles in terms of range. At the same time, the products of private russian gunsmiths have already equaled the price of American and European models. Finally, the russian army simply does not have enough rifles.

The most mass-produced sniper rifle in service with the russian Ministry of defense, the SVD, was developed in 1957-1963. Its effective range is 600-700 meters, which is several times less than that of modern Western rifles.

"At the same time, neither smuggled imports, nor state-owned factories, nor private gunsmiths fully cover the needs of the russian army. Both pro-war bloggers and independent publications have repeatedly published evidence of russian military personnel using Mosin rifles developed in the russian empire in 1891,” The Insider adds.

Source: The Insider